The 2021 Met Gala is fast approaching on September 13th. Typically held annually on the first Monday in May, the Met Gala—aka fashion’s biggest night of the year—returns on September 13th as a smaller, more intimate affair than in years past.  While it may look a little different this year, there will still be a red carpet filled with fabulous fashions and celebrity sightings. 

So, ahead of the big bash, here are all the details we know about the event thus far—including what the theme is, who’s cochairing it, what the Costume Institute exhibit will entail, and what we can expect to see on the step and repeat.

What is the Met gala?

The Met ball, or Met gala, is the fashion world equivalent of the Oscars. It’s an evening when designers, models, and Hollywood stars convene in the year’s most over-the-top looks to celebrate and fundraise at a new exhibit from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute. Typically, everyone dresses to the theme, and according to the feel, of the exhibit; past themes have included camp, religion, punk, and more.

When and where is it?

The 2021 Met gala will be held as an intimate gala on September 13, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

What’s this year’s theme?

The 2021 Met gala is focused on celebrating all things American fashion. Andrew Bolton, the Wendy Yu Curator in Charge of the Costume Institute, felt it was time to reexamine American identity and fashion, especially as it has changed over the last several years due to both political and social justice movements. “I’ve been really impressed by American designers’ responses to the social and political climate, particularly around issues of body inclusivity and gender fluidity, and I’m just finding their work very, very self-reflective,” he told Vogue. “I really do believe that American fashion is undergoing a renaissance. I think young designers in particular are at the vanguard of discussions about diversity and inclusion, as well as sustainability and transparency, much more so than their European counterparts, maybe with the exception of the English designers.”

What will the exhibit look like?

The Costume Institute will actually present a two-part 2021 exhibit, “In America: A Lexicon of Fashion” and “In America: An Anthology of Fashion.”

credits-vogue.in